Attorney for Carrie Weingarth says police had ulterior motives

Mother accused of snatching sons listens as lawyer says police knew no abduction took place

MIAMI - Presented with a plea deal from the state that included jail time, the attorney for Carrie Weingarth declined the offer and then presented serious allegations against the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department in court Friday morning.

Weingarth, who is accused of abducting her three sons and driving them across the country, watched as her attorney berated police.

"They knew that an abduction had never taken place, that the police knew the father did not have custody (and) that the police basically lied to judge," Mauricio Padilla told Miami-Dade County Judge William Thomas.

Police claimed Weingarth picked up her oldest son from school in February and, along with her boyfriend and two other sons, drove to California, where she was arrested a week later.

"If there was false information provided to this court or provided to a federal agency, then this court will explore it and I will make the recommendation as I deem to be appropriate," Thomas said. "But I don't think you want to throw those type of allegations just out there."

There are clear questions about the actions of school police, who wrote the arrest report.

The fact that no Amber Alert was ever issued indicates that no one ever though the children were in danger.

"Ten minutes into the case I knew it was bogus and I told that to the police department," Joe Carrillo, a private investigator hired by the Weingarth family, told Local 10's Glenna Milberg.

When asked if he thought police had ulterior motives, Padilla simply replied, "Yes."

Detectives made the identities of the children public and notified the news media when the children were returned to South Florida.

School police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Thomas requested evidence to support the allegations and reset the hearing for Wednesday.

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